The company has taken decision to shut down the paper mill operations at the Hartsville mill complex due to flooding from Hurricane Florence.

According to the company, certain operations remain flooded and experienced damage, which may take several weeks to resume the operations.

Sonoco has six uncoated recycled paperboard (URB) machines and one corrugated medium paper machine at its Hartsville mill complex.

Hartsville facility is said to account more than 20% of the company’s global paper production.

Flooding and storm damage from Hurricane Florence also disrupted interrupted operations at three of Sonoco Recycling’s locations in North Carolina, in addition to the tube and core operation in Hartsville.

Various company operations in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina have been also closed, as the storm advanced across the region. At present, the operations were resumed at these locations.

Sonoco is expecting an increased input, operational and supply chain costs related to the event, apart from the expenses at the Hartsville manufacturing complex.

The company is planning to reduce the negative impacts by leveraging inventory and production from the remaining of its global mill network and supplier relationships.

Sonoco president and CEO Rob Tiede said: “We are gratified that none of our employees have been injured during the storm and subsequent flooding over the past several days.

“Flooding along Black Creek at our Hartsville Manufacturing Complex is expected to continue for the next few days, but we are beginning to make assessments and line up maintenance crews so we can quickly begin repairing equipment to get back into operation as soon as possible.”

Established in 1899, Sonoco offers a range of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services to its customers.

With around 21,000 employees, the company has annualized net sales of around $5bn and carries out operations in about 85 countries.